Gorakh No. 4

13-14^th Dec 2014

Gorakhgad No. 4

One would question as to why do I go to the mountains? And more so, repeatedly to the same venues? Does he have no other work in life? Well, I definitely do! But once you connect to the Mountains, you sort of befriend them and when they call you, you have to go! As simple as that, isn’t it? It surely is, especially after grinding your self down at the workplace for the entire week, this ‘urge’ to attend the call of the mountains strengthens even more. Go to the Mountains and they will tell you your true worth. To me, The Mountains help me discover myself, they let me feel the freedom which I so yearn for.

Being Sir Phadke

Tandulwadi Fort

27^th July, 2014

We had a Super Duper Trek Yesterday! We kept up the PHC tradition of increasing the difficulty level of simple treks (4 hrs of ascend & 4 hrs of descend). By no means can Tandulwadi be considered an easy grade trek. It was a Palasdhari (Part-II). None of us knew the proper routes here and our selection of the guide was incorrect too. But on a positive note, we got to traverse longer routes and that added to the excitement & sweet agony. It rained from the very beginning and that made the terrain all the more slippery, but the climate was awesome! It was a thrilling experience to lead the students at the rock patches and slippery paths.

The "All Season" Spot

GORAKHGAD TREK with PHC

Night of 10th March 2012.

~Parin H Shah

            It is more than a week since the trek got over and the Master Blaster has finally silenced his critics yet again, this time with his 100th hundred. The reason why I am mentioning this is that I myself have completed a half-century of adventures with the completion of the latest trek to Gorakhgad. Though not all have been successful, this is just the beginning. And I strive to improve further.

            Night hikes were the flavour of this season, I guess. Just a quarter ago, PHC completed a wonderful night hike to Naneghat-Jivdhan, in December 2011. We rarely hike in March, but this year the winter extended itself till early March. It was not a bad idea to do a night trek. The "poll results" were out and Gorakh was finalised as the venue.

Dream Come True

NANEGHAT – JIVDHAN 11th Dec 2011

Denewala jab bhi deta, deta Chhappar phaad ke!

Yes, Absolutely this has to be the theme of the hike, at least for me! It was a Dream Come True as we were keen on Jivdhan since our college days. And Esp. more so because we missed reaching Naneghat cave during our earlier attempt just a week ago.

***

The hike plan was superb! I'd say it was a success. We could've improved a lot as far as punctuality and individual preparations were concerned.

The Son Rises

Why write reports?

The main aim of writing a report/experience is to enable you to express yourself and your thoughts. Whenever you pen down something, do it primarily for yourself. The next equally important aim is to share your written experiences with others (i.e. fellow hiking friends). Do not try to compare yourself with any one else.

Writing requires recollecting memories. Hiking has given me so many joyful experiences. Whenever I write a report, the memories are replayed in my mind and it’s just like visualizing the whole hike again. After a few weeks or months or even years, when I’d read my reports again, my memories would get refreshed and I’d feel happy once again.

PURANDAR 2009 SEPTEMBER 20
The Birthplace Of Sambhaji Raje

I had been to Purandar with the Podar Hikers’ Club on 20/09/09. We were some 30 members comprising of current committee members (Ameya Mahajan, Satsheel, Shrenik, Disha, Omkar etc.), past students (Vikas Kavle, Gautam Chury, Archana Ajgaonkar 2008, Vikrant Keer 2008, Chetan Nakte 2009 and myself), new comers from FYJC and FYBCOM and several other college students. We missed the presence of Phadke Sir, though.

Philosopher Trekker

Asherigad trek

A word of caution to all those who read my report - Read at your own risk! You may complete a particular hike in a day, but reading my reports is going to take a lot more time than that! I am in a crazy mood right now and I don’t know what I’ll be writing in this report. I may laugh at my own reports later, but then it’s better to write something than nothing.
Its Tuesday today & we just had a very amazing hike to Asherigad on Sunday the 27^th July 2008. It was my 20^th hike with our very own – PODAR HIKERS’ CLUB!!

            Hiking for me is now a way of life. You start from the bottom…struggle to reach the top…stay there as long as life allows you to and then eventually come back again to where you started from. This is life! But there is a lot more to be learnt from hiking. The most important lesson – to be happy always! There will be ups and downs alright, agreed. But remember “hasta hua jo jayega wohi muqaddar ka sikandar kehlayega.”  I am not writing this for anyone but simply because it helps me express my feelings. One reason why hiking has become a part of my life is because it makes me feel good and happy too. Look, it has given me so many friends!

Well, there is one interesting concept in my mind right now. Let me pen it down before I forget. So here’s it: I feel there are 3 phases in the life of a Podar Hiker:

Rajmachi, An Adventure In The Night

RAJMACHI – An Adventure Re-lived!!

Part-1

I don’t know from where to start and where to end! It is almost a week since the trek to RAJMACHI got over.

Well, the college reopened on 17^th Nov.2007 and we were desperately in need for a trek. We decided to have a trek as early as possible. Our aim was to have at least 3-4 hikes from the last week of November to the first week of January.

And so we decided to have an overnight trek on 24^th-25^th November. Thankfully, the committee members of the PODAR HIKERS' CLUB succeeded in convincing Prof. Rajendra Phadke (the Chairman of the Club) to plan a trek to RAJMACHI. It was sir’s idea that we go for a night hike and yes, that was a very good idea indeed because the night of 24^th was a full moon (poornima).

Thanale Caves

PODAR HIKERS' CLUB.

ONE DAY HIKE TO THANALE CAVES ON 22nd July 2007.

       It’s the month of July and we are in the heart of the monsoon season. A perfect month for hiking-a time when most of the Club's monsoon hikes are carried out. Rains bring freshness, greenery and joy. But an excess of it can play spoilsport. The same thing happened to the 1st college hike which was an overnight hike scheduled on 30th June-1st July to HARIHAR FORT. It rained heavily on 30th June (Saturday) disrupting normal life in the city & the hike had to be postponed!!

       The PODAR HIKERS' CLUB Committee headed by the Chairman- our Professor R.M.Phadke, followed by Anurag R (Secretary 07-08), myself and other executive members came to a conclusion, after several meetings, that the first official college hike will be a 1-day hike scheduled on 22nd July to THANALE CAVES.

Sagargad Waterfall

SAGARGAD
20th Aug 2006

On normal college days, I stop the alarm and go back to sleep. But whenever there is a trek organised by the P.H.C., I must be the earliest bird to rise.

             This year's third trek was a one day hike to SAGARGAD and the reporting time had been fixed at 5:30 am on a fine Sunday morning. After equipping myself with all things that a hiker must, I left for college. For the first time, I got to a chance to experience the lonely street with dogs barking and no sign of humans anywhere. I managed to reach the college by train at about 5:45 am thinking that I would be the only person late, but many were still to come.

History Repeats Itself

LOST: in The Adventures Of TAK MAK

TakMak was my second hike, also during the monsoon of 2005. It was a one day hike organized by the Podar Hikers' Club. There was greenery everywhere and that was pleasant for the eyes. The climate was cool. At the start of the trek, Phadke sir narrated a couple of incidents that had taken place here in the past. It was during this trek that I got to know some seniors, mostly from the 2005-06 batch.

A Lovely Debut

PEB – A LOVELY DEBUT!

I had never heard about hikes before. I knew nothing about hiking. I just assumed it to be a kind of picnic. I had registered for the hike just to enjoy & have fun with friends.

The first hike of my life was an overnight hike organized by the Podar Hikers’ Club to Peb fort which is situated in the Matheran range. This was in 2005 when I was in FYBCOM. We spent the night at a playground in Neral where we reached by bus. We played a lot of games throughout the night. I remember we even played a few games of cards under a street light, right in the middle of the street! Sir even taught us some management games. I hardly knew any seniors then.